News & Public Affairs

Florida gets $200 million from HUD for neighborhood stabilization listen

09/09/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Kathy Castor, Pam Iorio, HUD, recession, Neighborhood Stabilization Act, Tampa

Yesterday the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it’s putting an additional $1 billion toward its Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The program aims to protect property values in foreclosure-ridden areas. The Tampa Bay Area will get a sizable chunk of it.

Despite the muggy morning heat, officials gathered today in the grassy back yard of a foreclosed East Tampa home. The property is the future site of an apartment complex for 18 female military veterans and ...

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Hillsborough Commission votes down 1 layoff, EPC furloughs listen

07/28/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: hillsborough board of county commissioners, BOCC, Jim Norman, Mark Sharpe, Rose Ferlita, Kevin Beckner, Maricela Medrano, budget, recession, Al Higginbotham, Kevin White, Ken Hagan

Hillsborough County may be in the thick of another tough budget process, but at least one employee will get to keep her job. County Land Use Ombudsman Maricela Medrano is known for being a liaison between the county and the Latino community. Her job was on the chopping block when Interim County Administrator Mike Merrill presented his budget to the Board of County Commissioners.

"We have a number of folks, who are hard working and have been laid of before, in the last round and in this ro...

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An economist analyzes the European economic crisis

06/15/10 Robert Lorei
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Tags: recession, debt crisis, government spending, tax cuts, Reagan, Greece, Potugal, Spain, Italy

The so-called PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain) countries are undergoing economic hard times. Is the solution to cut government spending? Our next guest says no- it's dangerous to cut government spending during a recession. Our Guest is Mark Weisbrot, PhD. He's co-director of the Center for Economic and policy Research in Washington, DC.

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Hillsborough County Hears Mixed News on FY 2011 Budget listen

02/24/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Commission, Pat Bean, Mark Sharpe, County Budget, recession

For local governments, budget season is fast approaching, and Hillsborough County is no exception. At a workshop today the Board of County Commissioners heard from County Economist Kevin Brickey. He told the board that recovery is on the horizon, but it won’t exactly be swift.

He warned of another sharp decline in countywide property tax revenues.

The state’s projected ad valorum decline of 8.5 percent was on the lower end of a range of estimates, one of which he said predicted a 13 ...

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Report: Florida will be among the last states to escape recession listen

06/16/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Economy, recession, poll

A new report says that Florida’s economic recovery will be longer and more difficult than the rest of the country.

Forecasters with the Wachovia Economics Group say the state went into recession a full nine months ahead of the rest of the nation. Plus, it says the state’s surplus of housing and commercial real estate is "considerably worse" than the rest of the U.S.

Read the economic forecast for Florida at Wachovia.org.

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Nobel economist speaks at USF listen

02/13/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: economy, recession, housing bubble, University of South Florida

Vernon Smith is a professor of economics and law at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, Calif. This morning at the University of South Florida, Smith outlined the economic and sociological reasons for the collapse of the housing bubble, which led to the current global financial meltdown.

Smith showed data from the Dow Jones index and house prices since the 1970s to establish that there has been a pattern of bubbles and collapses in th...

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Colombian trade deal ratification sought listen

05/05/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Colombia, Latin America, Mel Martinez, trade, Stetson, economy, labor, recession, unions

A “free-trade” deal has been negotiated between the United States and Colombia, but it awaits Congressional approval. Last month, Democrats in Congress said they would indefinitely delay a vote on ratification.

Today in Tampa, the Colombian Ambassador to the U.S. joined Florida’s junior Sen. Mel Martinez and some members of the business community to urge Congress to quickly vote to ratify the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco said that under President A...

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Report on Iraq, recession released listen

04/24/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Bill Nelson, Democratic Party, Iraq war, Mel Martinez, recession, economy, MoveOn, FCAN

MoveOn.org today released the results of opinion polling saying that many Floridians blame America’s economic troubles on the occupation of Iraq.

Twenty-five people gathered in the West Tampa office of the Florida Consumer Action Network (FCAN) for the release of the Iraq and Recession Report. Following the release, MoveOn members delivered it to the local offices of senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez.

Jason Palermo, a program organizer with FCAN, said the results of the survey poi...

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Castor comments on economic stimulus package listen

02/08/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Castor, recession

Yesterday the Senate passed an economic stimulus package

Today, WMNF spoke with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat who represents parts of Hillsborough, Pinellas and Manatee counties, to find out what the economic stimulus package means to residents of Tampa Bay.

Photo credit: Seán Kinane / WMNF

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